With mid-term exams done and winter holidays knocking the door, this is the perfect time for the students to unwind and look forward for a New Year. But for those planning to study abroad, this is also the most pressing time.

While most aspirants would be ready with the scores of standardised tests like TOEFL, GRE or GMAT, for many, the next big step, of writing Statement of Purpose (SoP) and preparing a resume, proves to be a daunting task. If you are in such fix, student counsellor and India representative of ESIGELEC, French School of Engineering, Vidya Suresh, says offers few practical pointers.

Speaking at a workshop held by Campus France here, Prof. Suresh advised students to give at least three weeks for preparing their SoP and resumes. “Writing a SoP is a serious job as it conveys your background, interest and the reason for applying to a particular institution and course. It is a tool to explain your story to the admission council members,” she explained.

In writing SoP and resume one should be careful about their ‘tone’ and should avoid plagiarism. Ideally, one should write their own SoP and resume as they are expected to defend those details during interviews. Students should also ensure that they use ‘action’ words to convey better impression. “One should work on their sentences and should give only relevant information,” she cautioned.

According to some estimates, the selectors give approximately six seconds to decide whether they should consider a candidate based on resumes and hence aspirants should ensure that their resumes are not cluttered and convey the essentials in a single glance, she says. “Candidates should not lie, indulge in blatant flattery, or use childish sentences trying to garner pity and should avoid the other extreme of being high-handed. They should also be careful not to pour too many personal details and should only give the latest and relevant information,” she explained. Students should also be careful in creating generic SoPs and resumes and should customise their documents for each institute separately, she advises.

(http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/writing-sop-is-a-serious-job/article5411560.ece)